


Treading Water

by chocolateandnerves



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hugs, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 20:29:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7985203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocolateandnerves/pseuds/chocolateandnerves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQAQ-k41LP8">A song.</a>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Working through emotions is hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treading Water

Lance had always found comfort in water. In the ocean, in rivers, in lakes, in showers and rain and puddles—he felt secure. Safe. Even in times of extreme stress, Lance found solace in long, soaking baths or multiple showers a day. There was a peace in the soft tinkling of bath water, or the consistent hum of the shower hitting the floor that he couldn’t find anywhere else. It allowed him the time he needed to process his life, his thoughts, his feelings. 

It’s how he found himself in his second shower of the day. It had been a particularly bad day—the food had been blander than usual, Keith’s criticisms sharper, the fights harder. Every sound was too much and a knot in his chest tightened and choked him every time he tried to fight through it. As soon as he’d had the chance, Lance excused himself, citing exhaustion and and a lack of beauty sleep for his grouchiness. He’d walked as briskly as he could to his room and the door had barely clicked shut behind him before he was stripping off every piece of his clothing and taking deep breaths as he started the shower. 

The water pouring down on his head was a relief. He slumped sideways, shoulder leaning against the shower wall, and every emotion he’d caged beneath the surface of a smirk crashed down around him. _I miss my family. I miss my friends. I’m not good enough. I can’t do this. I’ll never be better. Nothing will be better. I wish I could go home._

The thoughts swirled and swirled around his head like the water around the drain. The same thoughts came and went a hundred times, taunting and tearing at him until he could feel himself choking on tears, sobs scraping out of his throat. He clutched the tops of his arms, hugging himself, trying to hold together whatever was falling apart so violently in his chest. 

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, skin reddening from the scalding water, when the door to the bathroom cracked open. A gentle voice floated in through the steam. 

“Lance?” Lance didn’t reply. He couldn’t, there was no way he could form a coherent enough response, and even if he could, the rock of anxiety lodged solidly at the base of his throat would never allow speech. He coughed around it anyway. 

“Aw, Lance. Buddy.” The voice got closer and Lance knew it had to be Hunk. It was always Hunk. Hunk just knew when something was up. 

Without saying anything else, Hunk slowly opened the sliding glass door of the shower and shut the water off. He gently caressed Lance’s elbow, coaxing him out and into the waiting fluffy towel he draped over Lance’s head. 

Hunk set to drying Lance’s hair first, and the gentle rubbing calmed the shaking in Lance’s shoulders, and for the first time since he got in the shower, Lance could feel the warm tears rolling down his cheeks, streaming down and dripping off his jaw. He sniffed and closed his eyes. He could feel Hunk’s hands as they pulled the towel around his face. 

“Breathe.” Lance inhaled, filling his lungs all the way down into his belly, then exhaled, wringing them out like a sponge. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Hunk’s concerned eyes on his face. He felt Hunk move the towel to his shoulders, rubbing back and forth, catching stray water droplets. And he began to sing. 

It was a slow melody, so gentle and low that it almost made Lance cry more in its tenderness. 

_“Honey it’s alright, honey it’s alright. It’s alright to be...alone.”_ Hands moved down Lance’s arms, leaving the towel draped around his shoulders. Large, calloused fingers prodded into Lance’s palms, thumbs rubbing soothing circles into his knuckles, and Lance leaned forward, pressing his forehead into Hunk’s familiar shoulder. Silent tears darkened a patch of Hunk’s shirt. 

_“Treading water...the sea was your daughter, but now she’s gone, gone.”_ A sob jerked through Lance’s chest. “It’s alright...it’s alright,” Hunk murmured into his hair. The warmth of his breath tickled Lance’s scalp, matching the warmth of the arms pulling him in around his shoulders, and Lance thought that maybe it would be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> I recently moved away from home and I'm experiencing homesickness for the first time in my life. Lance is starting to resonate with me a lot more.


End file.
